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Selma Voting Rights Movement March
In Selma, Alabama less than 1% of African Americans were registered to vote due to strong racism and discrimination. A campaign was launched in opposition. On February 18, a demonstrator named Jimmie Lee Jackson was shot and killed by police. -
Bloody Sunday
On March 7, demonstrates commenced a 54-mile march in response to Jackson's death. This day would become known as Bloody Sunday. Police violently attacked the demonstrators, using tear gas and shooting into nearby homes, leaving 100 injured and 17 hospitalized. Those who watched the news mistook the senseless violence for coverage of Nazi Germany (From Selma, 40). In response, new passages are added to the Voting Rights Act, allowing 300 African Americans in Selma to become registered voters. -
Birth
Tarana Burke was born to a single mother in Bronx, New York. -
First Assault
When Tarana Burke is only seven years old, she is raped for the first time by one of the older boys in her neighborhood. She was too young to truly understand what was happening, only knowing that it was wrong. She describes that it left her feeling "...nasty and dirty and wrong, not realizing that he was wrong and that he was the culprit. I thought we were wrong" (Unbound, 49). This left Burke feeling as if she had to hide what happened otherwise her parents would be mad at her. -
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Second Assault
Burke was assaulted a second time when she was nine years old, by another boy in the neighborhood, who took Polaroids to keep her quiet. This continued until she was twelve years old when she managed to destroy the camera. -
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
When she was twelve years old, Burke read Maya Angelou's autobiography "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings". She learned that Maya was also raped at a young age. Burke considered Maya to be innocent, unlike herself. This was her first time seeing someone else experience what she had. -
21st Century Youth Leadership Movement
It was founded on the 25th anniversary of the Selma voting rights movement, by veterans of various movements from the '60s and '70s such as the Civil Rights, Black Power, labor, anti-apartheid, farm cooperatives, and more. The movement was created to teach and inspire the leaders of future generations. -
High School
Burke transferred from her Catholic middle school to Harry S. Truman Public High School. While she was a freshman, her English class read "Phenomenal Women", a collection of poetry written by Maya Angelou. After watching a video where Angelou reads it out loud, Burke asks herself a question that later becomes central to her healing. “If what I saw was real, how could a body that holds that kind of pain also hold joy” (Unbound, 141). -
Transferring High Schools
After her freshman year of high school, Burk transferred to Herbert H. Lehman High School. While there, Burke got her first job working at the school's job office, which helped teens find work that gave them school credit. -
The Youth Leadership Trip to Washington, DC
Burke attended a youth leadership trip to Washington, DC that is sponsored by the 21st Century Youth Leadership Movement. While there, she meets one of its organizers, Mrs. Sanders. This trip is a turning point for Burke. "I had been redefining and reinventing my identity for so long, but those words told me who I was. Who I am. Mrs. Sanders and the other 21st Century elders were the first people to validate me as an organizer, a leader and, in many ways, a survivor" (Unbound 177). -
The Central Park Jogger Case
After attending 21C, Burke and her fellow students started their own chapter in NY, with Burke as president. During this time, a group of five Black and Latino boys were accused of sexually assaulting a white woman who was jogging in Central Park. Despite a lack of evidence or witnesses (the victim suffered amnesia), the boys were convicted after being coerced by the police into false confessions. The truth would only be learned in 2002 when the true assailant confessed (Johnson, 135-136). -
Graduation and College
Burke graduates from high school. With some financial aid from Mrs. Sanders along with her personal recommendation, Burke is accepted into Alabama State University. -
The Creation of the "Me Too" Movement
In her one-bedroom apartment, frustrated with the sexual violence occurring in her community, Burke grabs a piece of paper and writes "Me Too" across the top. Underneath, she began building out an action plan for a movement based on empathy between survivors with the goal to help each other heal (Burke 14:30). -
#MeToo Begins Trending on Twitter
Hollywood actress Alyssa Milano posted a tweet with the hashtag #metoo to raise awareness of sexual violence. The hashtag quickly went viral, with hundreds of thousands of women, and some men, sharing their experiences. It allowed for silenced voices to speak up, to be listened to (Brown). At first, Burke was worried her work would be stolen from her. After reading a post where a woman expressed relief at seeing all the tweets, Burke realizes her work is happening in front of her.